Monday, March 23, 2015

A Rockford Weekend

Did you think we'd disappeared again?  Nah, we're still here and kickin'!  But it's been a strange couple of days again (I think strange may be becoming the norm at Casa de Gatchel) so, to catch you up....

Friday found a sick Noah at home again...

Making lady bugs!

And playing Lego with the Mama (this was a reminder for me that I was NOT meant to be an engineer...)

We also had a quick visit from my parents in the morning who were on their way to see Neil Diamond at the Palace.  All was well and good until about 3pm when Noah started screaming and crying uncontrollably about his ear hurting.  I have not felt so "mom-helpless" in a long time.  I knew I had to get him in to see the doc ASAP, but it wasn't like I could get him there.  And what little comfort I could offer him in the meantime wasn't doing much good.  I was able to get Grant home from work within an hour or so and Noah over to the doctor, who confirmed he had one nasty ear infection.  The doctor told Grant that whatever bug Noah had been fighting since Wednesday had probably taken up residence in his ear.  Poor kiddo.   They put him on anti-biotics and told Grant that as long as he felt up to it that he was still able to go to Rockford for the weekend.

So Friday night found Grant and I wrestling with the call on what to do.  It was really important for Grant to make it to Rockford to celebrate Minna's 92nd birthday, and normally I would have told him to go and the kiddos would just stay with me (who wasn't making the trip already due to the very long car ride) but I knew if we ran into another situation that I would be stuck since I couldn't drive.  We decided to wait and see what things looked like in the morning.  Unfortunately Noah was up coughing (a lot) almost all night and the Bean was up with leg cramps repeatedly.  The whole set of us were exhausted.

So back to debating.  I suggested that maybe they could hang for most of the day, take some good naps in the early afternoon if everyone seemed to be improving, and then head out.  This seemed OK, and Grant kindly took me up to Amber's for the morning so I could hang out, watch The Lego Movie, catch up and snuggle the adorable Mr. E!  I was overjoyed to get to see Amber for a few hours :)

The gang headed out around 4 (thought I wasn't entirely convinced and I don't think that Grant was either) that it was the best idea...  They made it safely to Rockford and Bella and I hung out here.

Where I did things like get my schedule ready!  Only 2 weeks until Opening Day!!!!!

I had a pretty good time while they were gone, the highlights of which included FINALLY GETTING OUT OF THE HOUSE!!!!  Sunday afternoon I escaped with Colleen for awhile (Freedom!) and then I went on a mission with Tess Monday morning.  This is where I digress for a few minutes and say how eternally thankful I am for the three gals I have mentioned herein.  Lots of people have been supportive, offered encouragement, prayers, checked in, helped out, which I appreciate immensely.  Not going to lie, this foot thing has been rough of me.  I don't do "slow down" and I definitely don't do "stop."  And I am not good at asking for or accepting help when it is offered.  So just gotta say thanks to everyone, but particularly those three, who put up with me and don't give up on me.  Mad <3.  (Oh, and no, not forgetting Grant at all.  He has been a rock, my rock, through this.  I'm at a loss for words with how important he has been over the last couple of weeks.)

Anyway, I had a pretty good 48 hours here and it seems that the trip to Rockford went really well, too.  I know it meant a lot to Grant to be able to go.  And the kids loved seeing Minna, Grandpa Gary and Uncle Keith.  And the snow!  Apparently Rockford had about four inches of snow this morning when they got up.  So it was a bit of a crazy ride back.  They made it home in time to drop Noah off at religious ed class tonight, grab some dinner and catch me up for a few before I had to head out the door to this month's PTA meeting.

While I was gone, they checked the mail box.  The flag had been up on Saturday but they weren't able to get to it before heading out.  They found the following:

Dear Detectives,
I missed you a last week!  I’m not sure where Nita was off to, my Intelligence Team completely lost track of her!  Perhaps she was off plotting her eventual escape route.  Something to keep in mind.  But this week, she’s back!  In the land of peanuts, presidents and spies apparently!
I received your email on Friday saying that you felt that Miss Direction was in Virginia.  Noah, I was most impressed when I hear that you were able to exclude so many states with the Jamestown clue as the states did not border the ocean.  Also, great cooking both of you!  I hear that peanut butter lasagna was awesome!
Per your request, I sent the SWAT team off to Virginia.  They hunted high and low, through the Pentagon, Langley and Arlington, but no Nita!  They did spend some time at the remains of the Jamestown settlement where they found a puzzle piece which I’m giving it to you for safe keeping.  We know that this means Nita was here but is, as usual, just one step ahead of us.  So we may have missed her, but with all the information we gathered we were able to alert Virginia authorities and the borders are safe!
I am passing along some further information from MOMG Intelligence.  They first ask that you remove Virginia from our “States at Risk” wall.  You should move it to our “Suspect” wall next to the “Last Seen” header.   Secondly, they have asked me to enclose the next 20 states they feel are most at risk based on the information they have been gathering.  Thirdly, I am enclosing a ball of yarn.  We would like to use the giant map on the “Tracking Nita” wall to show Nita’s track from state to state, just as we have been doing.  We have a feeling that Nita will be laying low for a day or two and will need some time to regroup, but you should expect her or my Intelligence team to contact you again soon.
Close one more time, Detectives, but not quiet there.  We’ll catch her, I promise!  Until then, keep up the good work.

The Chief


So it looks like we missed her once again.  That Miss Direction, I tell you...  Who knows where she'll turn up next.

Tomorrow morning is a delayed start, which is good because I think after such a crazy weekend the kiddos could use a little extra sleep!  Then the Bean and I will be hanging here for the day.  I think some pierogi making may be in order, and perhaps some bagels.  We'll see what we end up tackling.  So until then...

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